American journal of nephrology
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Biography Historical Article
Familial hypertension in Morgagni's De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis.
Morgagni was a contemporary of Malpighi, but unlike the latter he concentrated on macroscopic clinical and anatomic observations. His De Sedibus et Causis Morborum per Anatomen Indagatis consists of 5 books, written as letters to other scientists and members of foreign academies. ⋯ One case history presented, of a patient of Valsalva's who died with edema and a bladder stone, can probably be considered as the first description of familial hypertension. From his clinical and autopsy investigations, Morgagni concluded that the patient died of hereditary bladder stone disease and apoplexy.
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The history of nephrology is a part of culture in general and should be treated not as a hobby or an isolated specialty of medical science, but as closely connected with medical education and everyday clinical practice. In the age of the apotheosis of renal biotechnology, medicine more than ever needs to combine Hippocratic messages with renal technologic achievements, in order both to restore quality of life in patients with renal disease and to bring harmony and balance to individuals impaired in body and soul. ⋯ Hippocratic writings have not lost their nephrologic interest, despite the enormous recent advances in renal technology. Today's practising nephrologist can still learn not only from Hippocratic clinical observations, but also from the prognostic thoughts, the ethical principles, the philosophic concepts and the humane messages of the 'father of clinical nephrology'.